Date: January 31, 2014
Speakers: Congressman Earl Blumenauer. Moderated by Laural Porter
There is a revolution underway in the treatment of marijuana across the United States. In 1973, Oregon decriminalized small amounts of marijuana, a policy that has now been embraced by 14 other states. In 1996, California authorized the use of medical marijuana, and since then, 20 additional states and the District of Columbia have followed suit. Despite the fact that federal statutes list marijuana as a Schedule I substance with no therapeutic values, approximately one million Americans use medical marijuana. Washington and Colorado voters have also approved adult recreational use. While these states establish policies and mechanisms to implement those laws, a number of other states including Oregon are poised to follow this path in the next few years.
As a leader on marijuana reform in Washington DC, Congressman Blumenauer will lay out his vision of why and how the federal government needs to change federal drug laws and allow states, as the laboratories of democracy, to continue the evolution and refinement of marijuana policies.
As a state legislator, Earl Blumenauer supported the Oregon Decriminalization Bill of 1973, which abolished criminal penalties for possession of small amounts of marijuana becoming the first state in the nation to do so. After serving as Multnomah County commissioner and Portland City Commissioner he was elected to the US Congress in 1996. There he has been a strong advocate for changes to federal drug laws and has championed several legislative efforts to protect medical marijuana patients, allow the federal government to tax and regulate marijuana, and normalize taxes and banking for state-legal marijuana businesses in states where it is legal.
He authored a report in early 2013 called "The Path Forward: Rethinking Federal Marijuana Policy, which listed several steps that the United States should take to realign federal policies with the views of a growing majority of the American people on this topic. Blumenauer received the National Organization for the Rationalization of Marijuana Laws Award for Outstanding Public Leadership in 2010 and the first person to be honored with the Cannabis Industry Legislative Leadership Award in 2013. He currently serves on the Ways and Means Committee and the Budget Committee.
Laural Porter is an anchor and reporter at KGW-TV. She is also the host of KGW's current affairs show, "Straight Talk". She joined the KGW team in the year 2000. Laural is a five time Northwest regional Emmy winner and winner of a National Edward R. Murrow award for her feature reporting. She's also been nominated twice for an Emmy for her role as Moderator of "Straight Talk". Congressman Blumenauer has been her guest on the show several times.
